Every municipality has a responsibility to maintain its environment for the sake of its inhabitants. In Sweden, several KIMO member municipalities are looking at ways of promoting natural ecosystems to provide necessary services for cities and their inhabitants. Oftentimes this method has proven to be not only environmentally friendly but also makes economic sense. For … [continue reading]

In April 2017, KIMO attended OSPAR’s Environmental Impacts of Human Activities (EIHA) meeting in Cork, Ireland. OSPAR is the mechanism by which 15 Governments and the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. KIMO’s interests are closely aligned with those of OSPAR. Since we have an observer’s seat at OSPAR we … [continue reading]

Second Announcement The Ocean Conference in New York a Success – next stop Malmö! Welcome to Malmö 11-13 October 2017 LIFE BELOW WATER – Local Implementation of Global Goal 14 Locally driven initiatives from communities and local governments around the world have shown to be effective models at delivering results for SDG14. Good practices from … [continue reading]

As environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote in a recent article in the Guardian newspaper, “There’s only word for what we’re doing, and that is “insane”. On an ocean planet, we are wrecking the ocean.” Our very existence as a species depends on the health of our oceans. It is good to see that this realisation is starting to … [continue reading]

In June 2017 over 200 scientists and policy makers from all over the world attended the EnvironmentAsia 2017 conference in Bangkok. All levels of government were present: the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the National Thai Government and municipalities. The theme of the conference was ‘Practical Global Policy and Environmental Dynamics’ … [continue reading]

We are very pleased to welcome Syddjurs Municipality (Danish: Syddjurs Kommune) as the newest member of KIMO. Syddjurs Municipality has a population of 42 thousand people and covers an area of 696 km². The municipality was created during the Municipal Reform of 2007 when the former municipalities of Ebeltoft, Midtdjurs, Rosenholm, and Rønde were combined into … [continue reading]

The recent summit of G20 leaders which took place in Hamburg on 7-8 July 2017 generated a buzz of media headlines regarding discussions about climate change, trade, terrorism and economic growth. However, amongst all the glitz and glamour, a very important and under-reported commitment was made. The G20 states have undertaken to tackle the growing … [continue reading]

On Sunday 14 May in Belgium, hundreds of EU staff and their families gathered on the beach at Oostende, a member of KIMO. They came together for the first major beach clean-up organised by the European Commission to raise awareness about marine litter ahead of the international Our Ocean Conference in October. EU embassies around … [continue reading]

What happens to fishing gear when it reaches the end of its working life? Some of it is lost or abandoned at sea. Although there are many praise-worthy initiatives currently underway globally to remove some of this waste from the ocean, doing so is expensive and doesn’t address the problem at its source. Some fishing … [continue reading]

Artificial Grass We have all most likely seen artificial grass playing fields in our towns and cities. They are becoming increasingly popular as a durable, year-round alternative to traditional grass sports fields. Each artificial grass surface consists of a mat of synthetic fibres held in place by a layer of sand. An additional layer of … [continue reading]